Celebration

     If you come to this page, we've gone to WordPress:)
Please come join me at my new site:


childhood myths

     This link will take you to the blog page. But you can also go to our home page, which is quite cute, and other pages which may be important to tell you about our workshops, books, and other events.
We have the whole enchilada when dealing with Parenting and/or Teaching tips and techniques. Please come visit at our new 'place' and let us know what you think.

we'll celebrate anything!!

97 followers...oh,no!

     Hello all my blogger friends!! Over this coming weekend I will be moving to WordPress, and I'm freaking out!!! I just began this blogging adventure at the end of October so I still have quite a learning curve to work with. I am now moving so that all of our website info will coordinate with each other...our workshops, blog, events, sassy kids parties, etc....will all match and fit together.
But, because I am still pretty technologically illiterate, moving from what seems at least a little familiar to me to a totally new atmosphere is very hard!  I hope you will join me on this new adventure.

this is what I feel like right now!!

     I had just gotten to 97 followers on Google Friend Connect and now I believe I have to start over:(      So...I am hoping that you will join this new site and continue to follow our Childhood Myths blogs. I'm sure most of you remember how excited you were when you reached the 100 follower pinnacle....I was SOOO close. Please help so that I will be ready to plan a giveaway when I reach that peak!
      The new site is childhoodmyths.net for the home page...you can then follow from the blog site.  If you have questions for me or ideas that may help me please feel free to let me know by way of comment or email.
      For my FaceBook people, my new site will automatically share the blog with you...but it will not look the same and will not have the Sassy Kids name, but will have the Childhood Myths name instead. Hopefully, you will continue to visit and comment. You have no idea how much your comments mean to me...thank you so much!!
     If anyone from the blog or from FaceBook is interested in having us present a parent workshop...any size, from a few parents, to a classroom's parents, a school, community group, church group...or a teacher workshop of any size, please feel free to contact us. We will be happy to present ideas and tips to help make parenting and /teaching easier for any and all groups.
     Any hints you have for us about the blog and how to set it up to be helpful to you, just let us know;)


Happy Parenting!
D and C

Happiness Tuesdays #15

Happiness Counts!!!
I am beginning Happiness Tuesdays to tell you some things that make me happy and to share with you quotes, websites, and photos to make you happy!


Happiness Tuesdays #15


Here are three things that make me happy:


     Last week's happiness was all about Scott's birthday. This week's is all about my mom's birthday!!! She doesn't talk about age, but if you know my age...she is 26 years older than that ;)
     My mom is beautiful, strong, independent, social, kind, and busy, busy, busy!! She has always been a role model for many, so today let's celebrate my wonderful mother!!

with her mother and father

in high school

with her mom and siblings

with my dad

with my brother and me...and with my dad

the 4 Horns

with me and F2

with Carl, Dan and Carol, Michelle, Tom, and Gail

with Michelle and Julie

with Chad and Scott

Mom and Carl

with the Finkbeiner family

with the Horn family,
Mom and Carl with the 4 kids

with Diane's family,
with Dan's family,
with both Gail's and Tom's families

Mom and Carl with Chad and Scott

with mom in Feb. 2011

     Happy Birthday to the best mom in the world. Love you bunches, Helen Gallimore :)


Another way to preserve memories of a beautiful life...remember to save those photos!!


Happy Parenting!
D and C

Holding on to Memories

      After F2 and I had been married for about 7 years we were clearing out some old clothing and decided we had way too many old t-shirts. But they all really meant something to us, whether sweet, silly, or downright gross. So F2 cut out the fronts or backs of the shirts and put them into this collage-ish collection, glued onto foam core. It has hung out in the garage since that time...about 35 years. It always makes me smile:)

     After F2 died when the boys were in high school, I could not part with any of his stuff for years...see grief during the holidays. F2 had always collected t-shirts. He loved them, all kinds...from trips, from establishments, for cars, for beer, anything was fair game. When he died he had TONS of t-shirts that I couldn't and wouldn't let go of. After 14 years I decided to put these shirts into memory quilts for the boys. Considering that I don't sew...hate it, and don't own a sewing machine...these are definitely a labor of love for my guys. A lovely neighbor sewed the fronts together from my patterns, but the rest was done completely by hand...with sore fingers, but a full heart to show for it.
     This one is Scott's:

     This is Chad's:

     Each quilt is 7' by 7' which means that each one has well over 49 t-shirts in it....you can tell some of the squares have 2 or 4 smaller squares in them.  I still have enough to make a quilt for myself, but I can take a lot more time for that. Did you think I was kidding when I said F2 loved t-shirts??? What do you think now??


    I hope you always decide for yourself what is an important memory to keep. Other people may have what they think is your best interest in mind....but if I had gotten rid of all of F2's things all those years ago, I wouldn't be able to share these great memory quilts with Scott and Chad.


Happy Parenting!
D and C

Vacation Tidbits :)

     You all know by now that our family included 2 boys, mom, and dad...yay for us!!  When we traveled we used our second-hand Starcraft conversion van. It was an awesome vehicle for cross country travel, well before concerns over gas mileage!! We could put our cooler inside containing juice pouches and drinks, sandwiches, and other snacks. The sandwiches for our family included peanut butter and jelly ALWAYS!! The males in the family had to have their pb and j's. I threw in a couple of bologna or ham sandwiches also. The boys discovered after awhile that the pb sandwiches tended to get soggier than the meat sandwiches so the numbers changed!! 
   The seats reclined so the boys could nap in the car, and my passenger seat swiveled so I could sneak back to check on them or redirect their attention once they woke up. I suppose none of that is as safe as is required today, but it made traveling much more convenient. Now to mention the 'unmentionables' - bathroom issues! We were lucky that every one seemed to have quite large bladder capacities...so we didn't have a lot of stops that didn't include getting gas or seeing sights or picnicking(?).  BUT, we did have a pee bottle...I know, yuck!! ...however, having 3 males traveling...it did help out. Just imagine who had the lovely task of taking this full bottle into the gas station restroom to empty and wash it out...that would be me!! Gross!
    Our travels have given all of us such great memories. Here are a few more of our trips to the national parks:

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Mammoth Caves in Kentucky

outside Rocky Mt. National Park

Mt. Rushmore

Cape Cod National Seashore

whale watch off Cape Cod

Joshua Tree

Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan

     No matter where you go on your family trips, try to relieve the stress so that you can all have fun and enjoy yourselves!!


Happy Parenting!
D and C

Happiness Tuesdays #14

Happiness Counts!!!
I am beginning Happiness Tuesdays to tell you some things that make me happy and to share with you quotes, websites, and photos to make you happy!


Happiness Tuesdays #14


Here are three things that make me happy:


Okay, this week all three things come under one category:
     Scott's Birthday!!!!
My 'baby boy' has a big birthday today, yup...the big 3-0!!
Yikes, how did that happen?  So, what makes me happy today?


1) he is independent and responsible
2) he is talented and resourceful
3) he is kind and compassionate


You know I could go on and on...let's just say he is more than I ever could have asked for :)   I love you, Scott!!

They grow up so fast..it's so much fun! Enjoy every moment and appreciate every member of your family!


Happy Parenting!
D and C

Want to Visit a National Park???

     Family Vacation talk again :)  I hope you're ready!!


Our family loved to travel to our beautiful national parks. They are truly unbelievably beautiful in all different ways. Whether you decide to travel by car or plane, stay in a campsite or lodge, hike or go on tourist excursions----it will be worth your while!!  You'll see people of all ages, including kids. The best part is that you can set up what you want to do each day according to your family's needs. Here are some of our favorites:


Yellowstone National Park

watching Old Faithful

squinting in the bright sun...

Yosemite National Park

Ansel Adams-ish Half Dome

the 3 finkbeiner guys!

Grand Canyon

getting ready for a mule ride

Grand Teton National Park

ready to go camping

Mesa Verde National Park

checking out the Cliff Dwellers

Alcatraz..yup, a national park!!

you can actually lock 'em up!!

Badlands

heading to Sturgis for Bike Week

Sequoia

HUGE trees, beautiful scenery

     We always enjoyed what we saw and what we learned on these great family trips!


I'll be sharing more of our favorite places to go as a family unless you all speak up and tell me not to....I don't want to be the dreaded "want to see our vacation pictures?" person!!


Have fun on vacation!
Happy Parenting!
D and C

Vacations - Unplugged?

     We've talked about family vacations, road trips, and tourist traps already, so now here are some suggestions for you about how to enhance the family flavor of any vacation!!

     With these little darlin's here, do you really need electronics sticking in your ears or fingers playing with buttons...or is all you need a camera and some fun?
    When you're on the road try for an electronics embargo! No matter the age of the child, you need some conversation, play time, and family interaction. So let the kids know that they have a certain amount of time allowed for tech stuff...1 hour, 2 hours, hopefully not too much more than that. That includes all forms of technology: phones, music, DVDs, texts...if it involves a screen or ear buds, it's a part of the embargo. That also includes you!!! If you are texting or scrolling you are excluding your children from interacting with you. Whether they know it or not, that is painful!! Find fun, silly ways to spend this enforced family time.   And remember, the driver gets to choose the music...that was always our rule:)  But the driver should compromise by including everyone's wishes occasionally. Listening to each other's music can be enlightening..sometimes even scary!! Sharing with each other can lead to appreciating each other more.

     When you have arrived at your destination, TURN OFF your stuff!! Do you really need it? Nope!! Try to believe that you're actually allowed time away from everything and everyone! As you go out and about, leave that phone turned off and leave all other tech items in the car or room. Try to keep it off and only check it when you return to your room, or campsite, at the end of the day.
    Now's the time to engage in all the sights with your family. Have fun!! Ask questions, give them cheap cameras of their own, let them keep a journal to take notes to help them remember what they see.  Help them collect tourist maps and brochures, stickers, magnets...whatever reminds them of this fantastic family vacation. Possibly give them $1 a day to either save or spend for some silly little toy or candy. Don't decide to give them more if they whine or beg though...make rules up front and stick with them. It will make the trip a more enjoyable one.


     Coming up next will be ideas for visiting our National Parks! I hope you'll come back:)


Happy Parenting!
D and C

Happiness Tuesdays #13

Happiness Counts!!!
I am beginning Happiness Tuesdays to tell you some things that make me happy and to share with you quotes, websites, and photos to make you happy!


Happiness Tuesdays #13


Here are three things that make me happy:


1) Sanders Bump Cake - I know it's supposed to be Bumpy...but we've always called it our Bump Cake...used only for birthdays. DEE-licious!
2) Mexican food...let's have a fiesta with burritos, fajitas, Torch Lake dip, and margaritas...hurray:)    Or OLE!!
3) People who can laugh at themselves - the whole Torch Lake Group (TLG) does it constantly!!

we giggle in the winter

we giggle in the summer

our kids giggle with, and at, us

we giggle at our Mash party

we giggle at ourselves with our 'boxers' themed spring vacation

     Being able to love people enough to let them make fun of you is such a great gift...we have so much fun, never having to worry about hurting someone's feelings! Feel free to make fun of us...but be ready for us to reciprocate :)


Teach your kids to lighten up and enjoy themselves...while having fun with you!!


Happy Parenting!
D and C